1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a computer peripheral device, and more particularly, to a wireless beam-pen pointing device which is designed for use with a computer unit, such as a notebook computer, a presentation screen, and a beam pen, for the purpose of allowing the user to operate the on-screen cursor and functions displayed on the presentation screen through the use of the beam pen.
2. Description of Related Art
A common practice in the presentation of a computer software product is to use a notebook computer connected to a large-size presentation screen, so that the software being presented can be displayed on the presentation screen for convenient viewing by all people in the audience.
Typically, the presentation screen is connected via a cable to the notebook computer and is located from the notebook computer by a distance. During the presentation, the speaker typically use an elongated pointing stick or a laser beam pen to point out a particular object displayed on the presentation screen that is being mentioned in his/her speech. However, since the presentation screen is located at a distance from the notebook computer, it typically requires an assistant to sit by the notebook computer and use the built-in pointing device of the notebook computer to operate the on-screen cursor and functions that are currently mentioned by the speaker.
The forgoing practice, however, has the following drawbacks. First, since the assistant has to follow the speaker""s speech while operating the on-screen cursor and functions, the cursor actions displayed on the presentation screen to the audience may always lag behind the speaker""s speech, making the progress of the presentation quite slow and inefficient. Second, the employment of an assistant to help the speaker operate the on-screen cursor and functions would increase the overall cost of human power, making the presentation quite cost-ineffective.
One solution to the foregoing problem is to let the speaker operate the notebook computer entirely by himself/herself. One drawback to this practice, however, is that it requires the user to walk repetitively between the presentation screen and the notebook computer, which means that the speaker""s speech would be frequently interrupted, making the presentation quite slow and inefficient in progress.
It is therefore an objective of this invention to provide a wireless beam-pen pointing device which allows the speaker to operate the on-screen cursor and functions entirely by himself/herself without the help of an assistant, so that the overall human power cost can be reduced.
It is another objective of this invention to provide a wireless beam-pen pointing device which allows the speaker to operate the on-screen cursor and functions while standing in front of the presentation screen, without having to walk repetitively between the presentation screen and the notebook computer, so that the presentation can be made more smooth and efficient in progress.
It is another objective of this invention to provide a wireless beam-pen pointing device which allows the speaker to operate the on-screen cursor and functions while standing at any convenient locations in the presentation room.
The wireless beam-pen pointing device of the invention is designed for use with a computer unit, a presentation screen, and a beam pen. The computer unit includes: a CPU, a presentation screen connection interface, and a wireless interface. The beam pen includes: (a) a main control circuit; (b) a beam emitter, under control of the main control circuit, for emitting a light beam for the purpose of pointing out a particular object displayed on the presentation screen; (c) a cursor function button set, which can generate a control signal when being pressed; and (d) a wireless interface, under control of the main control circuit, for transferring the control signal via wireless link to the wireless interface of the computer unit.
The presentation screen is coupled with a beam-spot position detector which is capable of detecting the beam-spot position where the light beam strikes on the presentation screen and transfer the beam-spot position data to the notebook computer. In response, the notebook computer will move the cursor to the detected beam-spot position.
When the presentation speaker wants select an object or choose a command currently pointed by the cursor, he/she needs just to click or double click the left/right button in the cursor function button set. This action will cause the cursor function button set to output and transfer a control signal via the main control circuit to the wireless interface and subsequently via wireless link to the wireless interface of the notebook computer. The wireless interface of the notebook computer then demodulates the received wireless signal to recover the original control signal and then send it to the CPU to cause the CPU to select the object or choose the command currently pointed by the cursor.
Compared to the prior art, the invention allows the speaker to operate the on-screen cursor and functions entirely by himself/herself without the help of an assistant. This can help reduce the cost of human power and allows the presentation to be carried out more efficiently in progress. Moreover, the invention allows the speaker to conveniently operate the on-screen cursor and functions while standing anywhere in the presentation room without having to walk repetitively between the presentation screen and the notebook computer.